Abstract
Outbreaks of corallivorous Crown-of-Thorns Starfish (CoTS, Acanthaster spp.) have caused persistent and widespread loss of coral cover across Indo-Pacific coral reefs. The potential drivers of these outbreaks have been debated for more than 50 years, hindering effective management to limit their destructive impacts. Here, we show that fish biomass removal through commercial and recreational fisheries may be a major driver of CoTS population outbreaks. CoTS densities increase systematically with increasing fish biomass removal, including for known CoTS predators. Moreover, the biomass of fish species and families that influence CoTS densities are 1.4 to 2.1-fold higher on reefs within no-take marine reserves, while CoTS densities are 2.8-fold higher on reefs that are open to fishing, indicating the applicability of fisheries-based management to prevent CoTS outbreaks. Designing targeted fisheries management with consideration of CoTS population dynamics may offer a tangible and promising contribution to effectively reduce the detrimental impacts of CoTS outbreaks across the Indo-Pacific.
Highlights
Outbreaks of corallivorous Crown-of-Thorns Starfish (CoTS, Acanthaster spp.) have caused persistent and widespread loss of coral cover across Indo-Pacific coral reefs
Our results strongly suggest that fish biomass removal through commercial and recreational fisheries may be a major driver of CoTS population outbreaks, indicating the applicability of targeted fisheriesbased management to prevent CoTS outbreaks
Our results support the hypothesis that fish biomass removal is a major driver of CoTS population outbreaks
Summary
Outbreaks of corallivorous Crown-of-Thorns Starfish (CoTS, Acanthaster spp.) have caused persistent and widespread loss of coral cover across Indo-Pacific coral reefs. 1234567890():,; Predation by native Crown-of-Thorns Starfish (CoTS, Acanthaster spp.) during periodic population outbreaks is a major contributor to sustained declines in coral cover across Indo-Pacific coral reefs[1,2,3]. Given that CoTS outbreaks continue to be one of the major drivers of coral loss[12], including during recent mass bleaching events[13], new pathways for CoTS control at large scale have become increasingly important to halt further declines in coral cover and support reef restoration and resilience in a warming climate across the Indo-Pacific[14]. Contemporary management to reduce the detrimental impact of CoTS population outbreaks on coral reefs centres around a combination of direct manual control and water quality improvement[12,15]. While its efficacy is supported by independent modelling exercises[14,21], catchment and water quality improvement efforts, implemented since the early 2000s22, are unlikely to have acted to suppress
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